Kerry Liu 4:26 am on July 21, 2021
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What’s new in Gutenberg 11.1.0? (21 July)

Two weeks have passed since the last GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ release, which means a new version is available! Gutenberg 11.1 adds the ability to edit a blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. border easily, enables drag and drop support for the List View component, and includes many bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes centered around the Widgets Editor and Block Library.

Block supports: border

Take an early look at custom block borders! When borders are enabled in a theme.json file, and a block declares that it supports it with the block supports APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways., a new block panel is available that lets us change the border radius, width, style, color, and border units.

Set and style custom block borders

List View drag and drop

Intuitively move and reorder blocks using drag and drop in the List View.

Use the persistent list view to reorder blocks

11.1.0

Enhancements

  • Adminadmin (and super admin) panel available as PWA. (33102, 33310)
  • Block Breadcrumbs: Small chevron icon for breadcrumb separators. (33042)
  • Block Library:
    • Columns Block:
      • Add stack on mobile setting to allow for columns without mobile breakpoints. (31816)
      • Add the percent unit to the default units in CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. (33468)
    • Latest posts: Remove grey color for dark themes. (33325)
    • List Block: Add link color control to list block. (33185)
    • Post Terms Block: Add a “separator” attribute to post-terms block. (32812)
    • RSS Block: Update block styles. (33294)
    • Tag Cloud Block:
      • Add ability to change number of tags shown. (32201)
      • Remove editor style so editor matches frontend. (33289)
  • Design Tools, Border:
    • Add support for custom border units. (33315)
    • Update border support UIUI User interface. (31585)
    • Set border style none when border width zero. (32080)
  • Link Editing: Add Unlink button to LinkControl popover. (32541)
  • List View: Enable drag and drop in List View. (33320)
  • WidgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. Editor: Adds auxiliary class names for editor styles. (33388)
  • General UI:
    • Block Settings Menu: Don’t render ‘Move to’ if there is only one block. (33158)
    • Disable ‘Post Publish’ button if saving non-post entities. (33140)
    • Preferences: Polish labels and consolidate options in preferences. (33133)

New APIs

  • REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.: Block editor settings endpoint. (33128)
  • UI Components: Add a SearchControl component and reuse across the UI. (32935)

Performance

  • Improve List View performance. (33320)
  • Pattern Directory: Caching updates. (33052)

AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)

  • Improve high contrast mode rendering of icon buttons. (33062)

Bug Fixes

  • Block Breadcrumbs: Fix breadcrumbs htmlHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. structure and ReactReact React is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. warnings. (33159)
  • Block Editor:
    • Move layout styles to document head (instead of rendering inline). (32083)
    • Warn only in edit implementation when using useBlockProps. (33380)
    • Iframeiframe iFrame is an acronym for an inline frame. An iFrame is used inside a webpage to load another HTML document and render it. This HTML document may also contain JavaScript and/or CSS which is loaded at the time when iframe tag is parsed by the user’s browser.: Remove reset styles. (33204)
  • Block Library:
    • Buttons Block: Remove green background color in button preview. (33116)
    • Embed Block: Include missing attributes when upgrading embed block. (33235)
    • Image Block:
      • Improve “can switch to cover” check. (33095)
      • Fix replace link control styling. (33326)
    • Query LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. Block:
      • Prevent entering invalidinvalid A resolution on the bug tracker (and generally common in software development, sometimes also notabug) that indicates the ticket is not a bug, is a support request, or is generally invalid. values in the Query Loop block configuration. (33285)
      • Update getTermsInfo() to workaround parsing issue for translatable strings. (33341)
    • Search Block:
      • Fix search block button position dropdown accessibility/UXUX User experience issues. (33376)
      • Update search block to handle per corner border radii. (33023)
    • Site Title: Decode entities in site title. (33323)
    • Home Link: Remove padding. (33461)
    • Post Except: Fix excerpt_more filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. conflictconflict A conflict occurs when a patch changes code that was modified after the patch was created. These patches are considered stale, and will require a refresh of the changes before it can be applied, or the conflicts will need to be resolved. and remove wordCount attribute. (33366)
  • Design Tools:
    • Color: Prevent color panel from showing as empty. (33369)
    • Duotone:
      • Avoid rendering duplicate stylesheet and SVG. (33233)
      • Update conditions to hide duotone panel. (33295)
    • Theme.jsonJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML.
      • Allow themes to provide empty values for color.duotone and spacing.units. (33280)
      • Specify what settings can be part of settings.layout. (33303)
  • Rich text:
    • Fix format deregistration. (31518)
    • Autocomplete: Reset state for empty text. (33450)
    • Run input rules after composition end. (33416)
  • Site Editor: Close navigation sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. when all posts clicked. (33393)
  • Slash Inserter: Fix slash command focus style. (33084)
  • Widgets Editor:
    • Fix moving inner blocks in the Widgets CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings.. (33243)
    • Fix inserter size on Widgets Editor headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes.. (33118)
    • Merge conflicting wp.editor objects into a single, non-conflicting module. (33228)
    • Retrieve latest widgets before loading sidebars. (32997)
  • Writing flow:
    • Allow select all from empty selection. (33446)
    • Attempt to fix preview end-to-end failure. (33467)
  • Components:
    • Suggestion List: Check if a node exists to scroll into view. (33419)
    • Navigation component: Fix item handling onClick twice. (33286)
  • Editor: Extract snackbars into a separate component. (33355)

Experiments

  • Component System:
    • Promote g2 Popover as Flyout. (32197)
    • Add useControlledValue. (33039)
    • Add normalizeArrowKey. (33208)
    • Add mergeEventHandlers. (33205)
    • Add useCx. (33172)
    • Add useLatestRef hook. (33137)
    • Remove @emotion/css from Divider. (33054)
  • Navigation Block:
    • Add Color Options for Submenus. (31149)
    • Change Navigation block markup on front end only. (30551)
    • Improve handling of open overlay. (32886)
    • Menu item placeholder inheritance. (32512)
    • Pass block attributes with rendering with location. (33043)
    • Refactor of navigation block rendering using location attribute. (33244)
  • Global Styles:
    • Cover against non existing styles. (33127)
    • Missing link color on style properties to css var mapping. (33150)
    • Preset variables not being user on the site editor. (33149)

Documentation

  • Admin PWA: Make readme private. (33216)
  • Handbook:
    • Block API:
      • Apply enhancements included in WordPress 5.8. (33252)
      • Clarify the type of apiVersion in block metadata. (33249)
      • Fixes a typo in the documentation for block supports. (33247)
    • Block Editor API: Changes to support multiple admin screens in WP 5.8. (33262)
    • Custom Block Editor: Fixed bad image syntax and bold text. (32897)
    • Fix API documentation for data reference guides. (33384)
    • PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party Release: Update Gutenberg release documentation to clarify release post workflow. (33328)
    • theme.json:
      • Add examples and highlight backward compatibility. (33421)
      • Update theme.json documentation for WordPress 5.8. (33131)
      • Fix codetabs syntax in theme.json documentation. (33417)
    • Use markdown headings instead of links for API declarations. (33381)
  • Update documentation for link color in WordPress 5.8. (33162)
  • Packages:
    • Add PanelBody for InspectorControls. (33227)
    • Correct wrong setState call. (32808)
    • Remove withState HOC references. (33173, 33222, 33259)

Code Quality

  • Avoid calling gutenberg_ functions within code shipped through WordPress Core. (33331)
  • Block Editor:
    • Refactor the user autocompleter to avoid apiFetch and rely on the data module. (33028)
    • Warn when useBlockProps hook used with a wrong Block API version. (33274)
  • Block Library:
    • Image Block: Fix uncaught error. (24334)
    • Latest Posts Block: Refactor to drop apiFetch usage in favor of using the data module. (33063)
    • Template Part Block: Remove unnecessary function exists check on wp_filter_content_tags. (33182)
  • Components:
    • BlockNavigation: Restructure the BlockNavigation component. (31892)
    • Box Control: Rename VerticalHorizontalInputControls to AxialInputControls. (33016)
    • GradientPicker: Stabilises GradientPicker and CustomGradientPicker components. (31440)
    • Toolbar: Enforce isAlternate on ToolbarDropdownMenu. (33129)
    • ZStack: Remove @emotion/css from ZStack. (33053)
  • Packages: Hoist dependencies for WordPress packages. (33387)
  • Plugin: Remove deprecated APIs that are no longer supported in version 11.0. (33258)

Tools

  • Testing:
    • Add basic Site Title block coverage. (32868)
    • Add some functionality to createUser and deleteUser. (33067)
    • Enable previously skipped widgets tests. (33121)
    • Skipping more end-to-end tests. (33353)
    • Skip unstable end-to-end tests. (33352)
    • Switch to new puppeteer APIs for emulating conditions. (33410)
    • Update end-to-end tests to use new puppeteer drag and drop api. (33386)
  • Dependencies:
    • Update CopyWebpackPlugin to v6. (33220)
    • Upgrade Husky to 7.0.0 and git ignorance improved. (33183)
    • Upgrade Puppeteer to 10.1. (33327)
    • Upgrade Storybook to v6.3. (33219)
  • NPM Packages: Introduce release types to npm publishing script. (33329)
  • Plugin: Introduce tools folder with configuration files. (33281)
  • Workflows:
    • Release Workflow: Remove “experimental” status from WP 5.8 stable items. (33214)
    • Re-enable manually triggered workflows on forks. (32821)
    • Use NPM caching built into action/setup-node. (33190)

Performance Benchmark

The following benchmark compares performance for a particularly sizeable post (~36,000 words, ~1,000 blocks) over the last releases. Such a large post isn’t representative of the average editing experience but is adequate for spotting variations in performance.

VersionLoading TimeKeyPress Event (typing)
Gutenberg 11.16.38s26.12ms
Gutenberg 11.06.06s29.55ms
WordPress 5.78.52s36.26ms

Kudos to all the contributors that helped with the release! 👏

Thanks to @javiarce for creating the release post assets, @cbringmann for proofreading, and @priethor, @youknowriad, and @get_dave for guiding me through this release!

#block-editor, #core-editor, #gutenberg, #gutenberg-new

Jeffrey Paul 7:27 pm on July 20, 2021
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Dev Chat Agenda for July 21, 2021

Here is the agenda for this week’s developer meeting to occur at July 21, 2021 at 20:00 UTC.

Blogblog (versus network, site) Post Highlights

5.8 Schedule Review

Components check-in and status updates

  • Check-in with each component for status updates.
  • Poll for components that need assistance.

Open Floor

Do you have something to propose for the agenda, or a specific item relevant to the usual agenda items above?

Please leave a comment, and say whether or not you’ll be in the chat, so the group can either give you the floor or bring up your topic for you accordingly.

This meeting happens in the #core channel. To join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#5-8, #agenda, #core, #dev-chat

Paal Joachim Romdahl 2:12 pm on July 20, 2021
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Editor Chat Agenda: 21 July 2021

Facilitator and notetaker: @andraganescu

This is the agenda for the weekly editor chat scheduled for Wednesday, July 21, 2021, 04:00 PM GMT+1.

This meeting is held in the #core-editor channel in the Making WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

  • WordPress 5.8 final release.
  • What’s new in Gutenberg 11.1.0
  • Whats next in Gutenberg: July and August.
  • Project updates based on the latest site editing scope & 5.8 Priorities:
    • BlockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. based WidgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. Editor.
    • Navigation Block & Navigation Editor.
    • Template editor.
    • Patterns.
    • Styling.
    • Mobile Team.
  • Task Coordination.
  • Open Floor.

If you are not able to attend the meeting, you are encouraged to share anything relevant for the discussion:

  • If you have anything to share for the Task Coordination section, please leave it as a comment on this post.
  • If you have anything to propose for the agenda or other specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

#agenda, #core-editor, #core-editor-agenda, #meetings

Jb Audras 10:50 pm on July 19, 2021
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A Week in Core – July 19, 2021

Welcome back to a new issue of Week in CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. Let’s take a look at what changed on TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. between July 12 and July 19, 2021.

  • 37 commits
  • 35 contributors
  • 53 tickets created
  • 15 tickets reopened
  • 51 tickets closed

Please note that WordPress 5.8 will be released tomorrow on Tuesday July 20, 2021 🌟

Ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. numbers are based on the Trac timeline for the period above. The following is a summary of commits, organized by component and/or focus.

Code changes

Application Passwords

  • Improve various user-facing and developer-facing terminology – #53503, #53691

Build/Test Tools

  • Update the caniuse browser data and regenerate CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. – #53277
  • Clean up skipping conditions and requirements for various tests – #53009
  • Correct the test for autosaving a post with Ajax – #53363
  • Replace assertContains() with assertStringContainsString() when used with strings – #53363, #46149
  • Require the WP_REST_Test_Controller class in WP_REST_Controller tests – #53363
  • Reset $current_screen global between tests to avoid cross-test interdependencies – #53431
  • Use more appropriate assertions in rest_sanitize_request_arg() tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53123, #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363

Bundled Themes

  • Revert the [51372] update to blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. patterns in bundled themes – #53617

Coding Standards

CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings.

  • Don’t always set normalizedTransitionendEventName to null – #53562

Documentation

  • Correct documentation for wp_get_post_parent_id() – #53399
  • Synchronize the $post_id argument description for some post and attachment functions – #53399
  • Various documentation fixes following [51129] – #44314

Editor

  • Second round of package updates ahead of RC3
  • Backportbackport A port is when code from one branch (or trunk) is merged into another branch or trunk. Some changes in WordPress point releases are the result of backporting code from trunk to the release branch. fixes targetted for WordPress 5.8 RC4 – #53397
  • Include the fixes targetted for WordPress 5.8 RC3 – #53397

Help/About

  • Update the About page for 5.8 – #52775
  • Update the About section for 5.8 – #52775

Media

  • Document edge cases with the new image_editor_output_format filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. – #5366, #53668, #35725
  • Fix JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. error in Media Library when infinite scroll enabled – #53672
  • When resizing WebP images set the compression to “lossy” by default. Fixes a bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. where the compression was set to “lossless” when the uploaded WebP images have extended file format (VP8X) – #53653

Privacy

  • Ensure the copy button actually copies the suggested privacy policy text – #53652, #52891

Upgrade/Install

  • Add additional files to $_old_files for 5.8 – #53367

Widgets

  • Prevent widgets unintentionally being moved to the inactive sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. – #53657
  • Replace wp.editor references in the legacy text widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. – #53437
  • Use wp_sidebar_description() to retrieve a sidebar’s description – #53646
  • Validate HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. before saving block widgets

Props

Thanks to the 35 people who contributed to WordPress Core on Trac last week: @desrosj (6), @SergeyBiryukov (4), @jrf (3), @peterwilsoncc (3), @hellofromTonya (3), @adamsilverstein (2), @javiarce (2), @talldanwp (2), @zieladam (2), @timothyblynjacobs (2), @mikeschroder (2), @antpb (1), @denisco (1), @milana_cap (1), @karmatosed (1), @audrasjb (1), @nao (1), @kevin940726 (1), @noisysocks (1), @jorbin (1), @johnbillion (1), @mukesh27 (1), @kapilpaul (1), @youknowriad (1), @ianmjones (1), @mcsf (1), @get_dave (1), @ellatrix (1), @walbo (1), @dd32 (1), @htmgarcia (1), @linux4me2 (1), @mmxxi (1), @wildworks (1), and @spacedmonkey (1).

Congrats and welcome to our 3 new contributors of the week! @htmgarcia, @linux4me2, and @mmxxi ♥️

Core committers: @sergeybiryukov (16), @desrosj (12), @youknowriad (2), @ryelle (2), @johnbillion (1), @joedolson (1), @azaozz (1), @mikeschroder (1), and @peterwilsoncc (1).

#5-8, #week-in-core

Jeffrey Paul 9:51 am on July 19, 2021
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WordPress 5.8 Release Day Process

We’re less than 24 hours away from WordPress 5.8! If you would like to help with the final steps of the release, here is how you can join in.

The current plan is to start the release process at Tuesday, July 20, 2021 1500 UTC in the #core SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.

The major version release process can take a bit more time than the Betas or Release Candidates do, particularly if we run into any last minute issues that need to be addressed.

The Release Process

We will be working through the Major Version Release process for anyone who wants to follow along. Earlier today the pre-final release dry run was coordinated in #core (Slack archive).

How You Can Help

A key part of the release process is checking that the ZIP packages work on all the different server configurations available. If you have some of the less commonly used servers available for testing (IIS, in particular), that would be super helpful. Servers running older versions of PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher and MySQLMySQL MySQL is a relational database management system. A database is a structured collection of data where content, configuration and other options are stored. https://www.mysql.com/. will also need testing.

There are two ways to help test the package:

  • Use WP-CLIWP-CLI WP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/ https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ to test: wp core update https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8.zip
  • Directly download the BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process./RC version (e.g., https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8.zip)

In particular, testing the following types of installs and updates would be much appreciated:

  • Does a new WordPress install work correctly? This includes running through the manual install process, as well as WP-CLI or one-click installers.
  • Test upgrading from 4.0.33, 4.9.18, 5.7.2, and 5.8 RC 4 as well as any other versions possible
  • Remove wp-config.php file and test fresh install
  • Test single site and multisitemultisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site/networknetwork (versus site, blog) (both subdirectory and subdomain) installs
  • Does it upgrade correctly? Are the files listed in $_old_files removed when you upgrade?
  • Does Multisite upgrade properly?

Finally the following user flows, on desktop and mobile, would be great to validate work as expected:

  • Publish a post, including a variety of different blocks.
  • Comment on the post.
  • Install a new pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party/theme, or upgrade an existing one.
  • Change the site language.
  • If you’re a plugin developer, or if there are complex plugins you depend upon, test that they’re working correctly.

You can even start this early, by running the WordPress 5.8 RC4 packages, which are built using the same method as the final packages.

#5-8, #release-process

Felix Arntz 11:58 pm on July 15, 2021
Tags:   

Refining WordPress core’s lazy-loading implementation

Since the image lazy-loading feature was originally added to WordPress core in 5.5, by default every post content image as well as every image rendering using the wp_get_attachment_image() function (which includes featured images) is lazy-loaded. This optimization follows the typical implementation of the feature in other projects, without consideration for whether an image appears above or below the fold. Due to the available metrics at the time it was decided to leave fine-grained control over opting out certain images from being lazy-loaded to theme authors, since the position of images heavily depends on the current theme layout. See also the following paragraph in the original announcement post:

Theme developers are recommended to granularly handle loading attributes for images anytime they rely on wp_get_attachment_image() or another function based on it (such as the_post_thumbnail() or get_custom_logo()), depending on where they are used within templates. For example, if an image is placed within the header.php template and is very likely to be in the initial viewport, it is advisable to skip the loading attribute for that image.

It was recently discovered that the current WordPress core implementation of lazy-loading has room for improvement as it can regress the Largest Contentful Paint metric (LCP) when hero images above the fold are being lazy-loaded. Therefore, the default behavior of the existing lazy-loading implementation should be refined in order to better take this nuance into account.

Omitting the loading attribute on certain elements

As mentioned before, WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. is unable to reliably assess whether an image is going to appear above or below the fold, since it depends on the currently active theme. Furthermore, the loading attributes are added on the server-side, which has no notion on the influencing client factors like viewport size. Because of those reasons, fine-grained control over lazy-loading images (and iframes) still remains with theme authors. However, we can fine tune WordPress core’s lazy-loading implementation to behave in a way that improves the situation for the vast majority of cases, to achieve better LCP values out of the box.

Now, one could argue that lazy-loading should be entirely removed again to avoid any negative impact on LCP. However, that would also remove all the benefits that lazy-loading comes with, which is reducing bandwidth and wasting fewer networknetwork (versus site, blog) resources, which in itself can impact Core Web Vitals (CWV) metrics. The preferable default behavior here would be to find a solid middle ground between those trade-offs. This leads to the following goal for the WordPress core implementation:

The first “x” content image(s) should not be lazy-loaded by default, with “x” being as high as possible so that there is little to no LCP regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. and as low as possible so that there is little to no regression in the total bytes loaded.

(Note that this also includes iframes, but they are less commonly used as hero elements, so for simplicity this post mentions primarily images.)

To determine the right value for “x” (i.e. the number of images/iframes to omit from being lazy-loaded by default), I conducted an analysis using two versions of a small prototype pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party which prevents the loading=”lazy” attribute from being added to the first 1 or 2 content images respectively. The analysis relied on the following methodology:

  • Test across the 50 most popular themes according to the wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ popular themes search
  • Test on a demo site without any plugins active (except for the lazy-loading prototype plugin), for an archive view with 5 posts (where every post has a featured imageFeatured image A featured image is the main image used on your blog archive page and is pulled when the post or page is shared on social media. The image can be used to display in widget areas on your site or in a summary list of posts.) and for a single post view (where the post has a featured image as well as 5 images within its content), i.e. 2 different types of URLs
  • Test for 2 viewports, “mobile” and “desktop”
  • Use WebPageTest for the individual scenarios (200 in total), with 9 test runs for each scenario in order to counter variance and rely on the median result

That analysis produced the following results:

  • Omitting the first content image from being lazy-loaded resulted in a median LCP improvement of 7% (1,877ms compared to 2,020ms with current core behavior) and a median image bytes increase of 0% (368KB compared to 369KB with current core behavior). → Omitting the first content image clearly results in an LCP improvement while not noticeably regressing on image bytes saved.
  • Omitting the first two content images from being lazy-loaded resulted in a median LCP improvement of 5% (1,927ms compared to 2,020ms with current core behavior) and a median image bytes increase of 2% (378KB compared to 369KB with current core behavior). → Omitting the first two content images produces worse results for both metrics than only omitting the first one, i.e. it is better to only skip lazy-loading for the first content image, and therefore no additional tests with larger numbers of images not being lazy-loading are needed.
  • Both fixes actually perform even better in LCP compared to the results with lazy-loading completely disabled. This confirms that completely disabling lazy-loading is not a solution to the problem.
  • Drilling further into the results for omitting the first content image, 42% of scenarios result in a median LCP improvement of greater than 10%, with the maximum improvement being 33%. 5% of scenarios result in the median LCP being more than 10% worse, with the maximum here being 21%. → While the median LCP improvement across all themes is only 7%, there are larger notable wins for a significant number of themes, while notable losses are minimal.
Relative LCP change of the fix compared to the current behavior across all tested scenarios

Following up on the findings on the LCP regression from lazy-loading as well as the analysis about the potential fix, the following refinement to the lazy-loading implementation in core is being proposed for WordPress 5.9:

  • Instead of lazy-loading all images and iframes by default, the very first content image (also considering featured images) or content iframeiframe iFrame is an acronym for an inline frame. An iFrame is used inside a webpage to load another HTML document and render it. This HTML document may also contain JavaScript and/or CSS which is loaded at the time when iframe tag is parsed by the user’s browser. should not be lazy-loaded.
  • This is a more sensitive default than what the current implementation uses, that on average and at scale will result in better LCP performance out of the box, while keeping necessary bandwidth low.
  • Despite this change of the default behavior, responsibility for fine grained control of which elements should be lazy-loaded remains with theme authors. As a theme author, you are still recommended to specify a loading attribute value for images presented by the theme. Particularly pay attention if your theme relies on less standard layouts, e.g. a grid or slider view of posts or if post content only appears far down the page.

A TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. for adding this enhancementenhancement Enhancements are simple improvements to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, a new feature, or an improvement to an existing feature. to core has been opened in #53675 for further review and discussion.

Props to @addyosmani, @adamsilverstein, @desrosj for review and proofreading.

#feature-lazyloading

Jeffrey Paul 10:07 pm on July 15, 2021
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WordPress 5.8 Release Candidate 4

In preparation for the final release of WordPress 5.8 on July 20, 2021, an RC 4 has been packaged and released to fix some late-discovered blocking issues. The following changes have been made since RC 3:

  • BlockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. Editor: Backportbackport A port is when code from one branch (or trunk) is merged into another branch or trunk. Some changes in WordPress point releases are the result of backporting code from trunk to the release branch. fixes targeted for WordPress 5.8 RC4 ([51445] for #53397).
  • Media: When resizing, WebP images set the compression to “lossy” by default. It Fixes a bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. where the compression was set to “lossless” when the uploaded WebP images have extended file format (VP8X) ([51437] for #53653).
  • Media: Fix JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. error in Media Library when infinite scroll enabled ([51441] for #53672).
  • Media: Document edge cases with the new image_editor_output_format filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. ([51444] for #53667, #53668, #35725).
  • Privacy: Ensure the copy button actually copies the suggested privacy policy text ([51433] for #53652).
  • Widgets: Prevent widgets unintentionally being moved to the inactive sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. ([51439] for #53657).
Continue reading →

#5-8

Dan Farrow 7:15 pm on July 15, 2021
Tags: ,   

CSS Chat Summary: 08 July 2021

The meeting took place here on Slack. @ryelle facilitated and @danfarrow wrote up these notes.

Housekeeping

Discussion: Custom Properties (#49930)

  • @ryelle has updated her PR with some custom-property additions to common.css
  • @ryelle observed that a small subset of custom-properties are getting used very often, noting “…while it feels like a lot of variables to be adding, we also use the same concepts in many places”. For example:
--wp-admin--surface--background: #fff;
--wp-admin--surface--background-alternate: #f6f7f7;
--wp-admin--surface--border: #c3c4c7;
--wp-admin--surface--border-alternate: #f0f0f1;
  • @colorful-tones had a question about a particular chunk of core CSS defining somme custom-properties being loaded from multiple unique sources which seems redundant
  • @ryelle clarified that it’s added from a SASS mixin in base-styles and she thinks its there to allow each package to be standalone
  • We agreed that it does feel somewhat redundant when multiple packages are used together. Possibly it’s something that could be improved in future with coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. custom-properties

CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. Link Share / Open Floor

  • @ryelle shared a comment on the CSS deprecation ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. (#53070) that she wants to reply to. This led to a discussion about CSS deprecation which covered some of the following:
    • A wider discussion about CSS backwards compatibility needs to happen
    • Some kind of tooling might help to address the issue
    • In the ticket comment, @tellthemachines comments that, as moving redundant CSS into a deprecated.css file doesn’t offer a performance boost, it would be simpler to move it to a /* Deprecated */ section at the end of its file. @colorful-tones disagreed, noting that it deprecated.css existed it could be dequeued for a performance boost. @ryelle asked what would then happen if you installed a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party that uses a deprecated style
    • @colorful-tones agreed with JJJs comment, adding that “Plugin developers need to keep up with changes. If their plugin breaks then it is on them to update.”
    • @ryelle noted that the deprecation issue centres more on “elements that don’t exist in core anymore but a plugin could be using that markup & expecting the CSS to just be there”
    • @colorful-tones observed that multiple deprecation paths might be needed for the various sources of CSS, which @ryelle summarised as theme CSS (the Twentys styles), wp-admin CSS (all the files in wp-admin/css and wp-includes/css) and GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ CSS (“technically a subset of wp-admin CSS but also its own thing”)
    • @colorful-tones expressed support for the approach recommended in the TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticket: “Create deprecated.css and perhaps even start appending --deprecated-5.8 to classes that are deprecated.”

With that we were out of time. Thanks everyone!

#core-css, #summary

marybaum 5:47 pm on July 15, 2021
Tags: , ,   

Dev chat summary: July 14, 2021

Well now! We have less than a week left in the 5.8 release cycle, and this was its final devchat.

@francina welcomed several new attendees and opened the chat with this agenda (props @jeffpaul!).

Notable blogblog (versus network, site) posts

5.8 RC 3 is here. Please test the release and report any last-minute issues!

A Week in Core for last week highlights 44 contributors, two of them new and 14 active committers. Props @audrasjb!

Ever wondered why we use chat instead of video? So did Arnold Wright KITI, and here’s the discussion that followed.

Three items of GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ news:

  • Gutenberg reached 11.0 with a basketful of enhancements.
  • Check out the latest Editor chat summary, here.
  • And there’s a late-breaking dev note that pertains to the editor APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways..

If JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. is your jam, the Core JS team is changing its office hours.

And, the mobile teams would really like you to test their respective betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. releases, for iOS here and for Android here.

Upcoming release: 5.8

A final schedule reminder: we’re in the RC period, with a hard string freeze. RC 4 is slated for Thursday, July 15 at 16:00 UTC (Ed. note: basically now, at this writing) and final release in FIVE DAYS on Tuesday, July 20.

@desrosj gave a detailed report on what still needs to happen before Tuesday. He also covered what’s going in the RC 4 release. Please check out his review and pitch in if you can!

If you’re interested in the process of CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development, you’ll want to see the discussion that followed, about the tickets involved and how they arose. The team is following a new, more traditional process that @francina championed for this release and has also had strong public advocates in @azaozz, @audrasjb, and others.

@chanthaboune raised this Polyglots/WP-CLI ticket and asked for some quick eyeballs.

Component maintainers

@sergeybiryukov reported in for Build/Test Tools: they’re working hard to modernize the WordPress unit testunit test Code written to test a small piece of code or functionality within a larger application. Everything from themes to WordPress core have a series of unit tests. Also see regression. suite with tickets #53363 and #53491.

Open floor

@francina used the last ten minutes of the chat to go back to @Arnold W. K.’s questions and give more context about how the Core team does things.

She also asked first-time attendees how they happened to find their way to the channel.

You can catch the discussion verbatim here.

(Ed. note: Updated Friday, July 16) @webcommsat reminded the group of two things:

Marketing is still accepting ideas for social-media posts on this Social Sharing Google Doc. Questions? Ask her, @marybaum or @meher.

Marketing also still wants to know: what’s your favorite feature? Add your nomination, and why it’s your favorite, to this Google Doc.

#core, #dev-chat, #summary

Lara Schenck 4:19 pm on July 15, 2021
Tags: ,   

CSS Chat Agenda: July 15, 2021

This is the agenda for the upcoming CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. meeting scheduled for Thursday July 15 at 21:00PM UTC.

The meeting will be held in the #core-css channel in the Making WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

  • Housekeeping
  • Discussion: Custom Properties (#49930)
    Continue discussing the workflow for adding Custom Properties to coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress..
  • Open Floor + CSS Link Share

If there’s any topic you’d like to discuss, please leave a comment below!

#agenda, #core-css